Marjorie Fay Palm died Thursday, Nov.3 after 95 years defined by an outspoken and abiding love of family, social justice, volunteerism, Hartford history, poetry, and her Irish heritage.

A longtime resident of West Hartford, and more recently of Haddam, she was the widow of E. Charles Palm and the daughter of Alice Smith Fay and James Joseph Fay, and sister of Mary Fay Odlum. She was predeceased by two beloved children, Kathleen Palm Devine and Barry James Palm.

After graduating from Bulkeley High School, and then Miss Marchant’s School in Hartford and before marriage and childrearing, Marjorie was a reporter at The Hartford Times, the women’s page editor of The Sunday Herald, and a correspondent for Mademoiselle Magazine. She interviewed many notable people, including Robert Frost and Eleanor Roosevelt. When just 23 years old, she was among the first reporters to arrive on the scene of the 1944 Hartford Circus Fire, and recalled helping wandering children find their parents, even as she was interviewing rescue workers for the evening edition.

In her later years, as a consummate volunteer, she turned her pen to editing newsletters for the Connecticut Opera Association, the American Cancer Society, and the Mark Twain House. A longtime parishioner of Saint Timothy Church, Marjorie held sacred the Catholic ideal of caritas — social justice and service to others, and proudly marched with Fr. Daniel Berrigan against the Vietnam War. She always hoped to vote one day for a woman for president.

Marjorie leaves to mourn her loss and celebrate her remarkable life, her children: Robert Palm of Stonington, Christine Palm and husband James Baker of Chester, Brian Palm and wife Mary Stokes of Dublin, Ireland, and her daughter-in-law Barbara Cantor Palm. She was a devoted aunt to her Odlum nieces and nephews, Edward, James, Lisa, Mary Fay, and Melanie. “Nana” was the kind of grandmother who never missed a birthday or a ballgame (despite her avowed dislike of sports) and was always in the front row cheering every school performance by her grandchildren: Alicia Cantor Palm, Brendan Palm, Caitlin Palm, Colin Baker, Daniel Golden, Dominic Palm, James Golden, Lucia Fay Palm, Michael Palm, Seamus Palm Baker, and Siena Palm.

Friends may call at Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral Home in West Hartford on Wednesday, Nov. 9 from 5-7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at Saint Timothy Church in West Hartford on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. Please meet directly at church. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to St. Timothy Endowment Fund. Online condolences may be made at www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com.